Expanded jail Lincoln County top priority

More room for federal prisoners and a new firefighters training center two top priorities

By Dianne Stallings

dstallings@ruidosonews.com @RuidosoNews on Twitter

Posted:
09/03/2013 06:32:03 PM MDT

Expansion of the county detention center in Carrizozo to create room for high-reimbursement federal prisoners, and a training center for firefighters topped the list of capital outlay projects that Lincoln County commissioners will submit for state funding.

After attending an Infrastructure Capital Improvement Project training in Albuquerque, where officials reviewed changes in the method of describing projects, County Manager Nita Taylor said she met with County Road Superintendent Carl Palmer, Planning Director Curt Temple, Emergency Services Director Joe Kenmore and Emergency Services Coordinator Spencer Baldwin to discuss possible projects to submit to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration by the Sept. 30, deadline.

"The county currently is close to capacity of its 144 bed (jail) much of the time," she told county commissioners at their meeting late last month. "There is little or no room to house federal inmates, who can be a significant revenue source to the county. In meeting with the Emerald Companies administrative team (which manages the county jail), they propose that a conversion and expansion of the existing storage building located behind the main detention center complex would house additional inmates and provide space for larger medical facilities, which would be required with a greater number of inmates."

The cost of the project was estimated at $500,000.

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"That's not to say if we expand it, we wouldn't fill it up with local people and still have no room for federal inmates," Taylor said. "The Emerald folks also pointed out the rate we charge is $62 per day per federal inmate and it should be about $72 to $75, so it would be a significant revenue source to the county should we decide to take that on."

Commissioner Preston Stone asked if additional fencing would be needed for security.

Warden Dave Anderson said minor changes would be required, including more security cameras, and about 20-feet would be added to the building. He estimated another 48 beds could be accommodated.

Taylor said even if local inmates use the beds, it is more cost effective than shipping them off to another facility and paying the per-day expense.

Commissioner Kathryn Minter said at the going rate and if all the additional beds were filled with federal prisoners, the county would received about $1.14 million annually from the jail addition.

The detention center addition remained in the top spot to be sent to the state Legislature next year for possible funding and for other agencies to check when money becomes available for capital projects.

A new fire station in Hondo was moved to the second slot at an estimated cost of $300,000, because the building being used is in disrepair and shares a cesspool with an adjacent private landowner. The bays are too small to accommodate newer fire fighting equipment, Kenmore said,

Commissioner Dallas Draper convinced the rest of the board to move a fire fighter training center up on the list to third place with an estimated price tag of about $500,000.

"I would move the training facility up, because it has an effect on every single (volunteer fire) department," he said. Commission Chairman Jackie Powell agreed, noting that the center also would improve the insurance ratings for the departments, which lowers fire insurance premiums, "and affects every person."

The other projects stayed in their approximate rankings except for $120,000 in improvements to a pig barn at the fairgrounds in Capitan slipping in before a water crossing at the fairgrounds that could cost $425,000.

Second look in September

Taylor said she will put together a list with the new rankings and bring them back to commissioners for another review in September, in plenty of time to comply with the deadline.

Powell said legislators usually just look at the top three projects in a county for possible funding. Taylor called the ICIP, a "wish list."

"It also is an identification of things we must have done in some cases," she said. "The county has to fund some as well without capital outlay from state, down the line somewhere."

Powell proposed that a project that was listed initially as number two, a communication tower at the sheriff's office for $100,000, should be worked into the current renovation of the county courthouse and sheriff's department in Carrizozo. Any interruption of emergency communications must be avoided and the current situation invites a lightning strike on the tower that sits on top of the sheriff's headquarters, Kenmore said.

Several charges already have interfered with communications and one took out the dispatch console five years ago, which was expensive to repair, he said. The tower is poorly grounded and the new location on the ground will work much better. "Nothing in dispatch would have to be moved or in the radio room," he said. "It would allow us to do other things in the future we might need and would keep the building safe from a direct hit." He said he suspected that water leaks in the sheriff's roof also might be aggravated from the swaying of the tower in high winds.

Firefighter training center

Baldwin gave commissioners a preview of how a firefighter training center would benefit the county and the effect of the Insurance Services Office rankings and the cost of premiums.

He expects inspections by the ISO within one or two years, he said. Improving the Hondo station would help boost that department's rating, but essentially, "Everything we come and ask for counts toward ISO ratings," Baldwin said. Other factors include training frequency, equipment on trucks, training facilities, hoses, the number of personnel and the response time.

Most of the county volunteers departments are rated at nine out of 10 points, with one being the best. While some have good equipment and personnel, a major problem is the lack of consistent paperwork for three consecutive years, he said. More hydrants and water storage tanks also would help. He thinks the Bonito Fire Department possibly could jump two points from an 8 to a 6, and many of the others at least one point, Baldwin said.

A firefighters training center would save the county time and money, because the volunteers otherwise must go to an academy in Socorro and stay two weeks, something that is unrealistic for volunteers who have other jobs.

One center would serve the entire county and would help all the departments in their ISO rating, Baldwin said.

"A lot of counties and cities are going to their own training facility, because (the academy) used to be one week to become a certified firefighter, but they raised the requirements and now it is two weeks long and candidates must enter a burning structure as part of the course. Nearly 79 percent of the fire fighters are volunteers in New Mexico, he said. In Lincoln County, its 100 percent.

"We could have state certified firefighters that we train on our own time and it would reduce per diem costs," he said. When they train in Socorro, they are working with firefighters from all over the state, instead of teams with whom they would work on a fire in the county, he said.

They also could train in hazard materials incidents, rescue and extrication. The sheriff and municipalities could use the center, it wouldn't be just for county departments, he said.

Minter suggested Baldwin talk about some cost sharing with those other government entities.

A training center can be basic or very elaborate, he said. One structure must be as tall as the tallest building in the county, which would probably be the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts, about 50 feet, he said. Prefabricated structures can be used for the burning building exercise.

"What I'm trying to do is build a training center that meet all our needs, but can be cost effective," he said.

He's looking at county-owned land on Airport Road as a possible location. A section of the property is not on a former landfill and could be used, Minter said. But she questioned if generated smoke might cause a problem for the Federal Aviation Administration.

As for the possible development of a new county road yard, that $560,000 project was jettisoned until a suitable site is selected. Temple said the Capitan school Board is looking at some property that possible could be swapped with the county to give the district the current yard site adjacent to the schools.

Minter said she's like to see proposed water tanks, two 10,000 gallon tanks at each fire station, pursued.